Astronomers Map the Universe's Largest Magnetic Field Chart Using Australian Radio Telescope

Radio astronomers using Australia's ASKAP telescope have created magnetic field maps of the cosmic web—the gas filaments connecting galaxies—that are five times larger than all prior maps combined. The work, led by CSIRO researchers, employed a technique analyzing synchrotron radiation to trace magnetic fields across galaxy clusters spanning millions of light-years. The maps reveal how extensively magnetism permeates cosmic structures, constraining theories about magnetic field origins in the early Universe.